BO’S ONION BIRD

When GOB first saw a Wallcreeper, he shed salt tears! in north Queensland. Invasive introductions often replace the natives, whether it’s House Sparrows in the US or Grey Squirrels in the UK. Of course some ‘weed birds’ are a twitcher’s dream one day and ‘rubbish birds’ a few decades later. I have one more term to introduce, that I coined only a few hours ago… ‘bug birds’. These are the birds that when glimpsed are a major rarity, that a split second later turn out to be commonplace. Certain birds seem to have the ability to morph from pulse quickening rarity to embarrassingly obvious commoners with incredible regularity. Do you have your own? I’ll start you off with a few. Pigeons seem to cloak themselves in raptor jizz; I have often rushed binoculars to eyes prompted by a Peregrine stoop or flutter that turned out to be a pigeon taking the Mickey. I’ve spent hours staking out a bush with a glimpsed mega that turns out to be a Chiffchaff dressed in odd light. My third is the humble Chaffinch, that can set your heart racing with a random call or its wet plumage. This is an international phenomenon.

Bo Beolens runs fatbirder.com and other websites. He has written a number of books